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“If you’re serious about growing your business, you can’t sit around hoping that the phone will ring,” Johnston says. “Develop a holistic plan that includes each audience you’re trying to reach and then outline daily, weekly, and monthly action items.”
5. Compile contacts
A pop-up window or widget on your website is a not-to-miss opportunity for collecting emails from visitors. Add value by offering an exclusive discount or freebie to those who sign up. You can also add a link into your social media profile with platforms like Linktree to collect valuable contact information while pulling traffic to your website—win-win.
6. Optimize your email marketing
Once you’ve collected those contacts, it’s time to let them know what projects your business is working on. Send out a newsletter with some regularity, but don’t overstuff their email inboxes, and never spam, sell email addresses, or add names without permission. MailChimp, Constant Contact, and Emma are great services to use. Email marketing is still a valuable tool as long as you create catchy subject lines, send your emails at optimal times, and keep your content engaging.
“Share your current projects, firm insights, upcoming events, and any notable business announcements,” Erich Ploog, partner and managing director at Benjamin Johnston Design.
7. Get people talking on TikTok and Instagram
The social media platforms your future clients already know and love—such as TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn—are effective ways to reach out to them. Make sure to turn the business profile option on your accounts where applicable to get the most data possible about how your content is doing.
“Instagram is the best free advertising tool you can possibly utilize—post daily, engage with your followers, and make sure the majority of your content is professionally shot,” says Westchester, New York–based Ariel Okin, who runs her eponymous interiors studio and lifestyle publication Fenimore Lane, and is also listed on the AD PRO Directory. “Think of the feed as a magazine spread of your work, and stories as more personal and behind the scenes—and keep it consistent.”
You don’t need to be active on every platform; focus on those that make sense for your business or industry. Create quality content that highlights your achievements, projects, specials, or other worthy news. Social media marketing is one of the best ways to reach new people, especially when you take advantage of suggested accounts.
“Giving clients a peek behind the curtain can make them feel more comfortable committing to you for a year or more of their lives,” Adams says.
8. Target your audience with Facebook ads
To get your posts in front of as many eyeballs as possible, consider paid advertising on social platforms to boost your posts or gain more followers. Many allow you to specifically target the audience you want to reach by categories, such as age, location, and interests. Facebook ads are a great place to start and measure feedback.
9. Use pay-per-click advertising
For certain industries, print ads may be useful, but when it comes to cost and conversions, online ad campaigns are generally more affordable and easier to track and yield more sales. Pay-per-click advertising can help you reach a highly targeted audience and allows you to tailor a message until you get it right. You can use Google Ads to understand your customer base’s habits and needs.
10. Utilize your strengths for content creation
Crafting blog posts, articles or other content on your website can be a significant asset to your search engine optimization. Known as inbound marketing, the idea is to use concepts, terms, topics, and phrases that show search engines that you’re an authority on certain topics. Think about what your business is excelling at and where your expertise lies, and then start writing.
